RoseImmortal
by Pamari25
Summary: Rose is on Alt!Earth when she finds out exactly how not human she is.
1. Prologue

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN DOCTOR WHO, REGARDLESS OF HOW MUCH I WISH I DID. **

**A modern Scheherazade, that's what they call me on Earth. The woman with a thousand fantastic tales. How accurate this comparison is, I really can't say. See, the thing is, Scheherazade's tales were all tales of fiction, while mine… well mine are nothing but the truth. And you know what they say: The truth is stranger than fiction.**

**My name is Rose, and this is the story of how I became immortal.**


	2. The Beginning

**Okay, so I'm not **_**exactly**_** immortal, but to a race as short-lived as the humans, it's practically the same thing. What I AM is genetically altered; altered by time itself with the help of a rather clever sentient machine. **

**It all started with a man called the Doctor. He saved my life, and with one word altered my destiny forever. "Run", I can still hear him saying that to me, taking my hand and running with me out of that shop. Then watching it explode. But the Doctor, he's not human, he looks like one, but he's not. He's a Time Lord, the last of his race actually. A being that could travel through time and space in his living ship: the TARDIS. **

**We had quite a few adventures, saving people, planets, even the galaxy a couple of times, until we were captured. **

**We were caught by the Doctor's most hated enemy, the Daleks. The Doctor tricked me into going home, knowing that I would never voluntarily leave him. He wanted to save my life, not that it actually worked. I couldn't leave him there to die alone at the hands of an enemy he lost his entire planet to. I opened the heart of the TARDIS and looked into the Time Vortex. The vortex entered my mind, and that's when it all began to change.**


	3. Changes and Losses

**The first change however, was not in me, but in the Doctor. The Time Vortex had been killing me, so he took it from my body into his. But the Vortex was killing him as well, frying every cell in his body. But Time Lords are tricky, it would take more than that to kill one completely.**

**They have a sort of 'ace in the hole' when it comes to death: they can regenerate. And by regenerate I mean: new body, new face, new everything, including some new personality traits. The change was so abrupt and for me so unexpected, I didn't believe that it was really the Doctor, in retrospect a bit embarrassing actually; I asked him if he was a Slitheen. **

**Anyway, this new version of the Doctor was younger, thinner (and by thinner I do mean THIN, turn him sideways and he disappears), and a bit more handsome than his previous self, as well as a bit more rude. Rude and not ginger he had called himself that first Christmas on the Sycorax ship. He had a bit of an obsession with being ginger.**

**He was much different from his previous self, more fun, a little crazy, with a tendency to ramble on; but I continued travelling with him, and some where along the line, I fell in love. **

**We went on with our adventures until that one fateful day in the Torchwood Institute. Daleks and Cybermen, fighting each other for the right to rule the world. Attacking the planet through a rift in the Universe: via the void. **

**The Doctor tried to send me away again into another universe this time. But once again, I wouldn't let him. This time I knew I loved him and I was not going to live the rest of my life without him. **

**People who have travelled through the void have background radiation on them, and when the Doctor opened the void everything that had void stuff on it would be sucked in, including us if we couldn't hang on. **

**He opened the void, and it worked exactly like it was supposed to… except I lost my grip. I was hurtling toward the void and all I could see was the Doctor's terror stricken face as he watched me go. I came within a foot of being lost to the void forever, if it were not for Pete Tyler. Instead I ended up on the Other Earth.**

**I was trapped in another Universe. Heartbroken and crying for the man I loved. It was a universe without the Doctor and as such, was a colder place to me. **

**In this Other Earth, with my knowledge of alien cultures, I decided to work for their Torchwood. They studied, learned from and dealt with the alien life forms on Earth, protecting humans from those who wanted to harm them.**

**It was during this time at Torchwood that I found out exactly how different I was.**


	4. How? What?

Torchwood: Outside the government, beyond the police; tracking down alien life on earth and arming the Human race against the future. (Jack can be thanked for the melodrama)

The day had started out as routine as they come, well routine for Torchwood at least. Mickey, me, a couple of our teammates… comrades… gang… partners, that's the word, partners, chasing and meeting aliens from all over the various galaxies and hunting down the renegade groups of aliens through various parts of Great Britain.

This one particular group of aliens was supposed to be peaceful. We had already had several successful meetings and had explained that they could not take control of the underground for hunting purposes. Then I noticed that one of their guards looked rather shifty, although how a person can look shifty with a face like a fish, I'm not entirely sure. Either way, he was acting suspiciously and as it turns out, he had a peace of tech on him that he had stolen from another group somewhere in Wales.

I drew my weapon and advanced, when he realized I was coming for him, he pulled a shufti and a fire fight broke out. I was a major target as I was perceived as the fight starter.

I got hit three times. My mates pulled me out of the way, but by the time they got to me, I was already dieing. I could feel it. They dragged me to some cover and then returned to the fight, they didn't see what happened.

I was laying there on the gritty, dirty ground gasping for breath, when this tingling and then burning sensation started spreading through my body. Then there was this bizarre golden glow surrounding me. I thought for sure that I was dieing, no other possibility even crossed my mind.

There was a concentrated burst of golden light and my entire body was itching. I try to lie completely still, knowing that moving would probably only make it worse. But as the light faded I realized that all of the pain was gone, I stilled completely taking stock of my body. the next thing I realized was the truly shocking thing:

I had two heartbeats.


	5. OMG You're GINGER!

I had two hearts and this bizarre buzzing sensation in my head, which suddenly felt like it had a lot more room. I sat scooted back, further under cover and ran my hands over my body, checking or anything odd or out of place. My body felt completely whole, and completely different. I flexed my muscles; there was no pain or discomfort, I felt completely fine; which considering I had just been shot twice… was more than a touch weird.

And then Mickey came running up… and started yelling.

"Who the hell are you? Where's Rose? What have you done to her?" he had picked me up bodily and was shaking me by my shoulders.

"MICKEY! Stop it!" I yelled back at him and he froze.

"How do you know my name?" he asked.

"It's me! Rose!" I said back. "I know I don't look like her but it is me."

Mickey looked skeptical. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"You and I dated, and then I met a man called the Doctor and went off exploring with him. You came along after he regenerated. Our first adventure together in space was the one where we had to save Madame De Pompadour. "I just started listing things that only he, I or the Doctor would know.

"Let's say I believe you… What HAPPENED?" he tilted his head in that way that let me know he really wanted to know what was going on.

"Well, considering the fact that my own body feels weird, I have two heartbeats and you didn't recognize me… I'm going to go with: I regenerated."

"Bu-But… You're HUMAN!" he exclaimed, "You can't regenerate… I mean… I don't think you can regenerate!"

I tilted my head thoughtfully and began chewing on my lower lip, thinking. "Well," I mused, "apparently, I'm not as human as I thought I was."

"What am I going to tell your mother?" he groaned. "She's gonna kill me… I mean, you're GINGER!"

"HA! I got Ginger first time around? If he ever makes it here, he's gonna flip his lid." I laughed, thinking of the Doctor on that Christmas asking me if he was ginger. "Although, I am a little afraid of facing mum; she'll find some way to make this worse than it actually is."


	6. Easily Explicable

My mum, Jackie Tyler: the world's greatest over exaggerator. I had known the minute Mickey mentioned her that this was going to get blown way out of control. But, first things first: I needed to find a mirror.

The fight had been resolved, my team had neutralized all of the enemy targets and we were moving on. I hated using weapons, I had actually only used my gun twice, killing was against my grain. But regardless, we were moving on. I ran to the car, ignoring the amazed looks of my colleagues and headed straight for a mirror.

I laughed, I really couldn't help it, and Mickey was such an idiot. Overreacting even worse than I knew my mum would. My face looked almost exactly the same. My hair was ginger and my eyes were this bizarre hazel that seemed to shift colors even as I observed them in the mirror. There was also something a bit wonky with my vision. Things were wavering, like when it gets really hot out and the heat distorts your vision… and when I focused on the wavers, it was like I was seeing something different.

I was relieved; all of the physical changes could be explained away to the general public. The eccentric daughter of Pete and Jackie Tyler tries out a new look; hair dye and contacts, no big deal.

I jumped behind the wheel and motioned them to join me. Mickey climbed into the front seat and looked at me a bit askance.

"So… what are you gonna do about this?" he asked tentatively.

"Absolutely nothing, I still look like me." I shrugged, "Let the people think what they will."

"I didn't mean how you look," he looked at me as if I was thick; "I meant the obvious implication of you REGENERATING."

I stopped the car and looked at him. "I need the Doctor. He is the only one who can tell me what happened. No one we know here can explain this to me."

I dropped my partners at the Torchwood Tower to make the official report and drove to my flat. I needed a day or two to think about what had happened to me and how to explain it to my mum.

As I walked into my flat I made a cup of tea and gulped it down, scalding my mouth in the process. I walked through my flat shedding my outer layer of clothing and my shoes and dropped onto my bed. I was conscious long enough to register that the buzzing in the back of my head sounded a bit like someone talking before I passed out.

And then I was dreaming… or doing something like dreaming.


	7. Something Like a Dream

I was standing in the TARDIS control room. It looked exactly as it had the last time I had seen it, and there, sitting in the captain's chair, was the Doctor. He was reading, feet resting on the console, his completely pointless glasses on his face. My heart hurt just to look at him.

The buzzing sound was getting louder, I focused in on it; concentrating on hearing the meaning in the noise, it was like an old radio that had to be tuned into the station. I was fiddling with the imaginary knobs in my head. As I did, the sound became clear and I realized that I was hearing the Doctor in my mind.

He was reading "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", in his mind saying what utter hogwash it was and yet still enjoying it; his mind drifted back to the day of the Sycorax invasion. This body had been so new, saving the world in his pajamas… a bit like Arthur Dent, I smiled at the memory. I could hear it all in her mind. I could see his memories as they drifted through the event. I saw it when his eyes focused on me in the memory. "_Rose__…__"_ The melancholy tone to his thoughts was almost palpable, _"I miss you__…__"_

I had intended to not speak, not sure if this was a dream or reality. I didn't want to shatter the illusion if it was a dream but I was also afraid of it being real. It would completely divide me from the rest of mankind. But the melancholy and loneliness of the Doctor's thoughts broke my self-restraint.

"Doctor!" I said clearly, focusing hard on him. "I'm here. I look a bit different but it's me, I'm here."

His head snapped up and focused on me, eyes wide with surprise. "Rose!" he yelled running toward me, one of his trademark manic grins. I held up a hand to stop him and he froze… sadness staining his features. "Oh, I understand…" he stuck his hands in his pockets and gazed at me.

"Oh, bollocks." I said with a smile. "This time, you don't understand anything, and to quote you… I'm just an image, no touch." His face lightened considerably as he realized I wasn't rejecting him.

"How are you doing this?" he asked me, eyes narrowed. "Or is this just some bizarre figment of my imagination?"

I deliberately closed my mouth tightly and _thought_ at him. _"Not even your imagination is THIS clever."_ Somehow I knew instinctively that he would hear me… that we were two of a kind.

The Doctor's jaw dropped. "Well Rose, you've gotten an upgrade." He shuddered at his own poor choice of words, "Urgh, not upgrade… Cybermen memories… let's use promotion."

"Promotion?" I asked aloud. "What do you mean?"

The Doctor's brow furrowed. "Rose Tyler, _human_ Defender of the Earth… you're now Rose Tyler, Time Lady.


	8. Admissions

I stared at him, completely at a loss for words. He gazed at me and said: "That's right Rose; Time Lady."

"Wot?" I squeaked out. "How is that even possible?"

"Let's do our mental check of all things Time Lordly shall we?" he looked at me and I nodded my agreement. "One, regeneration… I think we can safely assume THAT happened. Two, the telepathic communication; it's hitting in a Time Lord to Time Lord part of my mind. C, wait… no, three, two hearts yeah?" he looked at me and waited for my confirmation. "Do I really need to continue?"

"Okay Doctor, that covered the what, now let's figure out the how." I said, placing my hands on my hips.

The Doctor looked away from me, obviously reluctant to tell me. "Bad Wolf." the words sounded as though they had been pried from him, "It and the TARDIS joined together to give us what we both wanted most." His face was pained.

I smiled ruefully, holding a hand out to him, wanting to feel his hand in mine. "It gave me a forever…" my voice trailed off as I took in what he said. "Hold on, did you say both of us?"

He nodded and when he looked at me his eyes were glassy with unshed tears. "I wanted you with me forever; never wither, never age: to spend the rest of my existence with." He inhaled deeply. "I couldn't watch time and death take away the one person that I l-"

I sighed, "Still can't say it can you? But its okay, I know you love me. I love you too." I shrugged, "And now I have my forever, but I still can't have you."

"No way back," the Doctor said, "Sealed the void, you're trapped there and it's my fault."

"Oi, enough with the angst." I snapped, "You're interrupting my thinking… I may have some bad news on that score." I said seriously looking him in the eye.


	9. Issues and Solutions

The Doctor looked at me, eyes wide with apprehension. "What do you mean, 'bad news'?"

I braced myself, collected my thoughts and plunged ahead. "The stars are going out, there's a darkness coming and the walls of the universe are collapsing again."

"How do you even know any of that?" he asked puzzled, but before I could explain, he noticed what I was wearing, exactly what I had been wearing in that stupid gunfight, (bugger it, bullet holes and all), "Torchwood, never liked them much, but your world at least has moved past all the secrecy and creepy experiments."

"Weeellll…" It wasn't entirely true.

"What is it Rose?" he asked.

"We're still fairly secretive and we have experiments, not the creepy kind, but still." I made a slightly defensive gesture, "That's part of why I know so much, as the resident alien expert they called on me. The degrees and mastery in astronomy, physics, astro-physics, meta-physics and biology (both terrestrial and extra terrestrial) helped too." I could almost hear it as his jaw hit the floor. "There was a storm coming, and I could sense it, Torchwood has developed in secret a Dimension Cannon, under my direction so we could find you and I could warn you. It works too… sort of."

"Rose Tyler, you are BRILLIANT. Absolutely MAD but, completely brilliant." He grinned at me, "So what's the sort of not working bit with the cannon?"

"This is going to sound completely ironic but… Time." Rose resigned herself to the Doctor's laughter and forged on. "I can't control the duration of the jaunts. Although now, what with my new Time Lady mind…"

The Doctor nodded, laughter subsiding finally, "I can telepathically send you additional knowledge, you're a part of me now, the walls of the universe have no effect on us. If you need me, just call."

"Thanks Doctor," I yawned. "I think I'm gonna go and get some real sleep and then find myself a cuppa, don't want to be collapsing all over the place." I grinned at him, "Get some sleep, you look worn out. Please take care of yourself until I get there alright?" I blew him a kiss and began to let go. As I did, I could hear the faint voice of the Doctor backed up by his stronger mental voice: "Rose, I missed you."


	10. Of Martha and Of Jack

**A/N: Yeah, sorry, I was having a bit of fun and this came out... I thought it was rather amusing and so I kept it and added it to the story. So I guess its a bit of an interlude. =D Enjoy.**

**In the TARDIS.**

The Doctor was running around the console room, manic grin in place, hitting buttons and twirling knobs with a renewed vigor. He could feel Rose's presence in his mind (currently napping) and knew deep down that his Rose was coming back to him. He was so impossibly happy that he began to sing, an old Gallifreyan tune of joy.

"Well," came a female voice, "You're in an excellent mood today. Hope its cause you've found something fun to do."

"Always something fun to do Martha!" the Doctor was practically bouncing, "BUT that has nothing to do with my rather excellent mood!"

Martha's eyes brightened with hope, maybe this would be the day that he'd say that Rose, that _blonde_, was in his past and now he wanted and loved Martha… maybe he'd snog her again… maybe…

"Rose is a Time Lady and she's coming back to me!" the Doctor exclaimed happily grabbing Martha for a huge hug.

Martha burst into tears and ran for her room. Maybe then today would be the day she finally made up her mind to leave, and you know what? It was…

**In the Hub.**

"I don't know what happened Jack, honestly." the Doctor said, taking a sip of the hyper vodka martini that Jack had graciously made, "One minute she's happy as can be and the next minute she's in her room crying and demanding to be taken home." The Doctor shook his head; humans never failed to surprise and confuse him, especially the females.

"Maybe she has feelings for you?" Jack asked pointedly, "It would account for the crying."

The Doctor considered this for all of ten seconds… "Nah, don't think so."

Jack rolled his eyes in exasperation. He knew that Martha had feelings for the Doctor, just as he knew that the Doctor still held on to his feelings for Rose. It was sad, Jack mused, that the Doctor had to love the one girl who couldn't come back…

The Doctor's voice cut across Jack's musings. "Oh and did I mention that Rose is a Time Lady now and has managed to figure out a way back?"

Jack choked on the mouthful of martini he had just tried to swallow. Red faced, teary eyed and gasping, he fixed the Doctor with an accusing stare and rasped out, "In the wonderful world of journalism, that's what you'd call 'burying the lead'!"

The Doctor simply laughed.


	11. Manipulators of the gadget kind

Rose sighed, the Dimension Cannon was proving to be more difficult than she had imagined. Even with the Doctor feeding her information through their link it was taking some rather sophisticated jiggery-pokery. It had already been half a year since they had seen each other last in that 'dream', and yet, there was very little progress.

She ran a hand through her already tousled hair and frowned at the length of the ginger locks. Maybe she should cut it… dye it back to blonde… nah that was the old Rose…

_"I like your new hair." _said the Doctor's telepathic voice _"It's pretty."_

"You just like it cause you're obsessed with all things ginger." she muttered aloud.

_"Not true!"_ he paused, _"Okay, somewhat true, but that's not why I like it."_

"Okay, okay, we'll continue this later. Any new information?"

_"How about the blueprints for Jack's Rift Manipulator?"_ Even across a telepathic link the note of smugness in his voice was clear.

Rose gasped, "How did he manage to get that working? We're still working on ours."

_"Jack's got a very clever girl b the name of Toshiko Sato working for him. Excellent with gadgets and numbers, and you know, Jack's not so bad himself. And they MAY have had help from yours truly__…__ not that I'd tell them."_

Rose grinned, mentally hugging the Doctor. "Hmm, I should put out Tosh on something more difficult then, she is rather clever. And the rift manipulator should solve it… I needed a power source, what better than the rift? Now I just have to figure out how to keep it from scrambling my atoms."

_"How about the blue prints to Jack's Vortex Manipulator. You know, it functions as a teleport too__…__" _

"Hmmm… not a bad idea."


	12. Good Lucks and Goodbyes

As it turned out, the Rift Manipulator and the prints for Jack's Vortex Manipulator were exactly what were needed to get the Dimension Cannon to work. However it was still a bit imprecise.

My greatest worry was ending up in the wrong dimension, it wasn't like I couldn't get back, I had a remote to work the cannon from wherever, and it was just that I didn't want to puncture more holes in the universe than absolutely necessary.

"Don't worry," said the Doctor's voice, "I'll be using the TARDIS to help pull you through, and she has your biological code. We'll get you, don't worry."

"I hope you're right." I muttered, pushing my red hair behind my ears, "Well we're off in 10 minutes. I have to say good bye to Mum and Dad and Mickey."

"How is Mickey?" asked the Doctor, "Still loafing about?"

"Actually, recently married to a Latisha Jones…" I laughed, I like her and her sister, "And he's taking my place in Torchwood."

The Doctor laughed, "Well, Tish and Mickey… go figure."

I walked toward my parents, hearing the Doctor's voice fading away, singing "I'll Be Seeing You".

"Mum!" I called; Jackie turned and enveloped me in a huge hug.

"I'll miss you, I'll tell Tony all about his big sister everyday, I promise. And you tell that Doctor to take good care of you, or I'll find a way there and smack him through his next regeneration."

"I'll tell him, Mum. Don't you worry about me, I'll miss you and I love you." I kissed my Mum on the cheek and turned to my Dad. "I'm gonna miss you Dad, just got you back and all." I grinned at him, eyes watering.

"I'll miss you Rosie," he said kissing my forehead, "Remember, need anything, call us and we'll be there somehow."

I smiled at my father and turned to Mickey, "Take care of yourself mate. And you better take care of that new wife of yours! Tish is a lucky girl."

"Yeah," Mickey replied, "Me and Tish'll miss you. But remember, we'll be around. Bye Rose."

With a final wave to all of them, I turned and walked into the launch room. It was finally time and I was more than ready to be going home.


	13. Bloody Cardiff

There was a blinding flash of light and I felt weightless, then there was a second and I was propelled forward into the next dimension at a run, trying to slow myself enough that I didn't run into something.

I came to a stop and looked around. There was a giant monument in the middle of a large plaza… all rather gray. I stared for a moment at the monument, wondering why the words were so odd, and then it hit me: the words were in Welsh.

"Oh, this is fantastic!" I muttered, a bit angrily "bleeding Cardiff." In fact I was still muttering about the injustice of being landed in Wales that I almost failed to notice someone calling my name.

"Rose!" the voice called again. I looked up and there, across the plaza was one Captain Jack Harkness, her second favorite man in the universe. He was running toward her across the plaza away from four very confused looking people.

"Jack!" I called back, running toward him. We met in the middle of the plaza and Jack picked me up in a huge hug, twirling me around before setting me down on the ground. "What are you doing here?" I asked him, a bit breathlessly.

"I am in charge of Torchwood 3, based here in Cardiff." he said, grinning sheepishly. "This is my domain, I've made it different."

"Funny, in my universe, this place belongs to Martha Jones; you're in Torchwood 2, Glasgow." He looked confused.

"Glasgow?" he asked, "Why? What's in Glasgow?"

"I dunno exactly," I replied, "Something about a Ianto Jones I think? He got transferred to Glasgow shortly after Canary Wharf… you went too."

"Ah, well then…" Jack grinned sheepishly, "Let's meet the team, and then we can go inside and call the Doctor."

He motioned his team over and I watched them warily appraise me. I decided to throw them for a loop and cut to the chase… after all, it's not like this is the first time I've met them.

"Gwen Cooper, Doctor Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato and Ianto Jones, pleasure to meet you in this reality" I grinned at them and Jack, who had raised his eyebrows but said nothing. "My name is Rose Tyler."

They all nodded, and Owen was (of course) the first one to say anything. "Excuse me, but how in the _hell_ do you know who we are?"

"Hmm," I replied, with a faux thoughtfulness, "Just as tactless in this reality. To answer your question Doctor Harper; I've been trapped on a parallel world for these past few years. I've already met and become rather well acquainted with all of you."

"So Jack…" said Gwen, "I thought you said she was blonde?"

"Been talking about me Captain?" I asked with a laugh. I turned to Gwen and added, "I was blonde, but regeneration tends to change things."

That succeeded in shutting them up, but I know they were seething with questions.

"C'mon Rose" said Jack, "Let's get to the Hub." he took my hand and grinned, "There's a rather lonely Time Lord out there dying to see you."


	14. Telepathy and the Man in the Box

I followed Jack and the rest of the team to the Hub, chatting amiably with Tosh about the construction of my Dimension Cannon and occasionally answering questions from Owen, Gwen and Ianto.

Once inside Jack pulled out a mobile from his desk and dialed, handing it to me. Amused, I closed it with a smile and a snap.

"Um Rose… don't you want to talk to the Doctor?" his confusion was a thing of beauty.

"Course I do!" I replied, "But I don't need THIS. D'you want to see something interesting?"

Jack and the team nodded, a bit perplexed. I called to the Doctor with my mind. _I'm ready. I'm in the Hub._ I would have called him the instant that I had gotten back to this reality, but Jack had showed up, and I didn't want Jack to get the short end because the Doctor overshadowed him. So I waited, I knew the Doctor would understand.

As I refocused on Jack, the distinct sound of the TARDIS materializing came from the center of the Hub. Smiling at Jack, I winked and said, "Telepathy… brilliant isn't it?" and was off at a run. I was racing to hold the man in the brown suit who had just stepped out of the blue box.

"I've missed you." I muttered against the lapels of his suit, feeling the tears come as I held the man I had dreamt of in my arms.

"Missed you more," he said back, pulling me, if possible, even closer.

I pulled away a little, to look up at his face. He was crying silent tears, but then; so was I. I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his in a gentle kiss, as our lips touched, his mind opened to mine and I heard the words that I had been longing to hear.

_"I love you Rose. Welcome home."_


	15. Epilogue

**Epilogue  
------------**

**This is the end of the tale. The tale of how I came to be a Time Lady, and to be reunited with the man of my dreams, forever. My life is no way near over, but this is the end of the story of this particular piece of my life. Now, a hundred years later, I am still with the Doctor. Still seeing the stars and finding new places to get into trouble and have to run for my life. **

**And I couldn't be happier. **


End file.
